Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good afternoon. I am Aaron McCrorie, the vice-president of intelligence and enforcement at the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA. I am joined today by my colleague Carl Desmarais, the director general of enforcement at CBSA.

I'd like to speak briefly about the role of the CBSA in processing asylum claims, particularly when they are irregular entries, most of which are at Roxham Road.

Maintaining border security and integrity is a role shared by the CBSA and the RCMP.

The CBSA is responsible for enforcing legislation at designated ports of entry. The RCMP is responsible for enforcing the law between ports of entry.

When a refugee claimant enters Canada to make an asylum claim, the CBSA's role is to determine that person's admissibility into Canada and the eligibility of their claim under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or IRPA.

To date in 2022, the CBSA has received over 2,400 regular refugee claims, mostly from claimants arriving by air. In comparison, this year the CBSA has received over 32,000 irregular arrivals. Of those, more than 97% are in the province of Quebec. Most irregular arrivals are crossing the Canada-U.S. border at Roxham Road. It is not an official border crossing.

Under the safe third country agreement, people seeking refugee protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in—in this case, either Canada or the U.S.—unless they qualify for an exception. This agreement applies to those making refugee claims at designated ports of entry, but does not apply to asylum seekers entering Canada outside of official border crossings.

That means that unless their ineligibility was previously established, the CBSA cannot deny entry to asylum seekers arriving from the United States at Roxham Road.

When the RCMP intercepts a person entering between official ports of entry, the person is brought to the nearest port of entry to make a refugee claim. In this case, the nearest port of entry to Roxham Road is Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle.

Before refugee claimants can leave the port of entry, they first undergo robust health and security screening. This includes biographic and biometric checks, as well as the initiation of security and criminality checks.

The CBSA is committed to processing all asylum claims in a timely manner, but the process can take a while. The time required depends on a number of factors, such as the amount of detailed information supplied by the claimant, the availability of additional information, and whether or not further research is required.

Security screening is an important aspect in assessing eligibility to enter Canada. The process ensures that anyone who wants to enter Canada has not committed any serious offences and does not constitute a security risk to Canada or Canadians.

Several factors are used to determine an individual's admissibility, such as participation in criminal activities, human rights violations and organized crime activities.

Besides admissibility, CBSA officers must decide if a claim is eligible to be referred to the IRB for a hearing. Factors that determine a claimant's eligibility include whether the claimant has committed a serious crime, made a previous claim in Canada or if the claimant received protection previously in another country.

To ensure that refugee claimants from Roxham Road have a safe, comfortable, and appropriate waiting space while their claim is processed, the CBSA invested in short-term accommodations. We ensure that claimants have access to beds, showers, meals, and medical care, if required, while they are being processed. These are at the regional processing centre near the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle point of entry. In light of the unprecedented demands in this area, this is the only CBSA office in Canada that uses temporary structures to accommodate refugee claimants.

The CBSA encourages refugee claimants to enter Canada at designated points of entry. This is to ensure their personal safety, as well as respect for the law. However, the number of irregular arrivals continues to increase. As I have already noted, since January 1, the CBSA processed over 32,000 irregular arrivals in Quebec, mostly at the Roxham Road crossing. We are working very hard to address this surge in volumes, including the reallocation of resources from other regions to support our colleagues in Quebec, sharing the workload with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and creating a digital portal.

In addition, to help speed up processing times, the CBSA began a new process for low risk claimants on November 1. This process allows applicants to be admitted to Canada under conditions during which time they can access social benefits and a work permit. Applicants are then guided to the Canadian refugee protection portal to complete their refugee claim within 45 days.

Whether or not asylum seekers choose to present their claim at an official point of entry, CBSA is committed to treating all those who seek protection in Canada with care and compassion.

We look forward to answering your questions and working with you to improve our refugee processing centre.

Thank you.

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